UC-NRLF 


OF    A 


GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


OF    THE 


VICINITY  OF  BELLE  PLALNE. 


SCOTT  COUNTY,  MINN. 


PRINTED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  SENATE. 


ST.    PJUL: 
D.   RAMALEY,  PRINTER. 

1872. 


\ 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  QP 
V       CALIFORNIA^/ 


IARTH 

tCtENeE 

UBRARY 


REPORT 


OF    A 


GEOLOGICAL  SUKVEY 


OF    THE 


VICINITY  OF  BELLE  PLAINE, 


SCOTT  COUNTY,  MINN. 


PRINTED    BY   ORDER   OF    THE   SENATE. 


ST.    PAUL: 
D.  RAMALEY,  PRINTER. 

1872. 


S3U/5- 


EARTH 

SCIENCES 

LIBRARY 


N 


J.  B.  C HANKY, 
STATE  PRINTER. 


COMMUNICATION  FROM  THE  GOVERNOR. 


STATE  OF  MINNESOTA,  } 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  > 

ST.  PAUL,  January  23d,  1872.        ) 

Hon.  W.  II.  Yale, 

President  of  the  Senate. 

SIR: — On  the  2Stli  day  of  February,  1870,  a  law  was 
passed  by  the  legislature  and  approved  by  the  governor 
entitled  ' '  An  Act  to  aid  in  the  development  of  Salt  Springs 
at  Belle  Plaine,"  which  donated  six  sections  of  the  State 
salt  lands  to  said  company,  on  certain  conditions.  [See 
chapter  114,  page  421  of  the  special  laws  of  1870.]  These 
conditions  were  afterward  complied  with  by  the  company, 
and  the  lands  conveyed  to  the  company  by  the  State,  as 
required  by  the  terms  of  the  law. 

On  the  6th  day  of  March,  1871,  "  An  Act  to  further  aid 
the  Belle  Plaine  Salt  Company  in  the  development  of  Salt 
Springs  at  Belle  Plaine"  was  passed.  [Chapter  129,  spe- 
cial laws  of  1871,  page  365.]  This  act  contained  a  proviso 
that  there  shall  be  a  geological  survey  of  the  springs  and 
adjacent  neighborhood,  and  that  the  provisions  of  the  law 
giving  further  aid  shall  not  be  operative  unless  the  report  of 
the  geologist  shall  be  favorable. 

Prof.  A.  Winchell,  State  Geologist  of  the  State  of  Michi- 
gan, was  designated  by  the  Governor  to  make  such  survey 
and  report  the  results  thereof  to  him.  Prof.  Winchell 
accepted  the  appointment,  made  the  survey  in  June  last, 
and  filed  his  report  with  me  on  the  17th  of  that  month. 
As  the  survey  and  report  were  made  pursuant  to  an  act  of 
the  legislature,  and  as  the  report  contains  the  recommenda- 

M132827 


tioritf  aid  conelasioi?s  of  tlie  geologist,  touching  matters  of 
public  policy,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  lay  it  before  tlie  legisla- 
ture, for  their  consideration,  and  have  the  honor  to  enclose 
the  same  herewith. 

Should  the  legislature  be  of  opinion  that,  notwithstanding 
the  report,  the  probabilities  of  a  successful  termination  of 
the  enterprise  are  sufficient  to  justify  its  further  prosecution 
at  the  expense  of  the  State,  with  that  object  in  view,  or  if, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  should  be  thought,  though  such  prob- 
abilities should  be  excluded,  yet  that  work  should  be 
prosecuted  with  reference  to  other  possible  results,  and  in 
the  interest  of  science,  then  further  legislation  might  be 
required.  Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

HORACE  AUSTIN,  Governor. 


REPORT. 


SIR  : — In  pursuance  of  an  appointment  from  Governor 
Austin,  dated  St.  Paul,  March  30,  1871,  I  have  made  such 
geological  survey  in  Minnesota,  and  especially  in  Scott 
county  as  seemed  requisite  to  enable  me  to  form  an  opinion 
ot  the  prospect  of  obtaining  brine  at  Belle  Plaine,  or  in  its 
vicinity,  of  sufficient  strength  to  sustain  the  manufacture  of 
salt. 

For  the  information  of  your  company,  I  proceed  to  state 
the  facts  and  general  principles  which  have  guided  me  to  a 
conclusion. 

Common  salt  and  its  solution,  brine,  being  a  product  of 
chemical  reactions  in  the  primeval  ocean,  and  not,  to 
any  considerable  extent,  the  result  of  recent  causes,  its 
original  home  was  the  ocean  ;  and  as  a  geological  product, 
its  place  is  amongst  the  other  sediments  and  precipitates  of 
the  sea,  which  make  up  the  body  of  stratified  rocks.  With- 
out pausing  to  explain  the  circumstances  under  which  we 
believe  the  saline  particles  have  become  mingled  with 
mechanical  sediments  in  the  progress  of  rock-making,  it  may 
be  interesting  to  know  that  all  formations  since  the  begin- 
ning of  Palseozoic  Time,  and  not  unlikely  from  an  earlier 
period,  are  liable  to  be  found  saliferous. 

That  a  formation  originally  saliferous  may  have  remained 
such  to  the  present  day,  it  must  always  have  preserved, 
since  solidification,  such  an  attitude  that  fresh  waters  have 
not  been  able  to  filter  through  it  and  wash  out  its  salinity. 
That  is,  the  formation  must  always  have  preserved  a  dish- 


6 

like  configuration.  It  must  be  stated,  however,  that  in 
cases  where  the  mother-rock  of  the  brine  is  underlaid  im- 
mediately by  a  porous  formation,  as  sandstone,  the  latter 
generally  becomes  saturated  with  the  teachings  of  the  salt 
rock  above,  and  serves  as  a  reservoir  to  be  tapped  in  the 
search  for  supplies  of  brine.  The  mother-rock  of  brines 
is  apt  to  be  argillaceous  and  gypsiferous  as  well  as  salifer- 
ous ;  and  unless  beds  of  sandstone  be  interstratified,  it  is 
useless  to  expect  great  supplies  of  brine,  however  strong,  in 
this  formation.  The  storehouse  of  its  brines  is  below. 

Natural  brines  of  workable  strength  and  quantity  have 
also  accumulated  in  beds  of  superficial  gravel  and  sand,  in 
situations  where  such  deposits  have  received  the  leachings 
of  a  salt  formation.  This  is  the  situation  of  the  brines  of 
Onondaga  county,  New  York,  and  the  vast  deposits  along 
the  eastern  flanks  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas. 

The  principal  brines  of  the  United  States  have  been  ob- 
tained from  the  following  formations,  beginning  with  the 
lowest : 

Salina  Group. — This  contains  rock-salt  at  Goodrich, 
Ontario,  and  Alpena,  Michigan.  Brine  accumulates  in  its 
porous  strata,  and  supplies  wells  at  St.  Clair,  Mt.  Clemens 
and  Port  Austin,  Michigan.  Its  leachings  saturate  gravel 
beds  which  supply  the  extensive  works  of  Onondaga  county, 
New  York. 

Marshall  Group. — This  supplies  the  numerous  wells 
along  the  Saginaw  Valley  in  Michigan.  It  is  simply  a 
receptacle  of  brines  filtered  from  the  overlying  formation 
known  as  the  u Michigan  Salt  Group,"  and  found  in  no 
other  portion  of  the  United  States. 

Carboniferous  Conglomerate. — This  is  the  reservoir  of 
brines  supplying  most  of  the  wells  in  "West  Virginia,  Ohio, 
Indiana  and  Illinois.  It  also  supplies  some  of  the  shallow 
wells  in  the  Saginaw  valley,  Michigan.  The  source  of  the 
brine  is  believed  to  be  the  coal  measures  overlying. 

Jbfesozoic  Formations  are  known  to  be  highly  saliferous 
in  Kansas  and  Nebraska  and  other  parts  of  the  "West ;  and 
probably  the  salt  of  northwestern  Minnesota  is  derived  from 


these  sources.  The  great  salt  deposits  of  Nevada  are  of 
Mesozoic  age — as  also  those  of  central  Europe  and  Great 
Britain. 

The  problem  to  be  resolved  in  reference  to  Belle  Plaine 
was,  threefold,  1st,  whether  the  age  of  the  rocks  approximates 
to  that  of  any  of  the  known  saliferous  formations  of  the 
United  States;  2d,  whether  the  altitude  of  the  strata  is 
such  as  to  have  retained  their  primitive  saliferous  constitu- 
ents ;  3d,  whether  the  situation  is  such  that  the  filtering 
ot  a  saliferous  formation  could  have  accumulated  in  beds  of 
sand  and  gravel  resting  on  the  surface  of  the  rocks. 

"With  the  view  of  determining  the  geological  age  of  the 
underlying  and  neighboring  strata,  I  made  geological  exam- 
inations of  various  points  along  the  valley  of  the  Minnesota 
river. 

At  Kasota,  30  miles  from  Belle  Plaine,  is  quarried  a  higlv 
ly  magnesian  limestone  of  a  reddish  creamy  color,  which 
outcrops  at  an  elevation  of  about  a  hundred  feet  above  the 
river.  At  Ottawa,  16  miles  from  Belle  Plaine,  up  the  river, 
is  quarried  a  similar  stone,  a  little  more  tinged  with  red, 
which  outcrops  at  an  elevation  of  75  feet  above  the  river. 
I  did  not  visit  these  two  localities,  but  saw  abundant  ex- 
amples of  the  rocks.  The  latter  locality,  morever,  has  been 
described  by  Dr.  Shumard. 

A  sample  of  the  stone  from  Ottawa,  crushed  and  treated 
with  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  effervesces  with  great  briskness, 
and  leaves  an  undissolved  residue  amounting  to  but  an  insig- 
nificant percentage.  It  is  not,  therefore,  a  sandstone,  though 
its  granular  character  gives  it  a  somewhat  arenaceous  aspect, 
and  the  rock  is  sometimes  regarded  as  a  sandstone.  This 
aspect  and  the  buffish  color  are  common  to  magnesian  rocks. 
In  fact,  the  presence  of  magnesia  is  readily  proven  in  this 
case,  by  the  distinct  flavor  of  Epsom  Salts  detected  in  the 
solution.  Chemical  analysis  shows  that  the  usual  composi- 
tion of  this  formation,  in  Minnesota,  is  essentially  one  pro- 
portion of  carbonate  of  lime  to  one  of  carbonate  ot  magnesia. 
Dr.  Shumard  has  given  us  the  following  analysis  of  a  sam- 
ple of  the  rock  from  "  White  Eock  bluff,"  which  I  judge  to 


8 

be  the  Ottawa  o.utcrop  (Owen,  Geology  of  Minnesota,  &c., 
p.  484,  Note) : 

Carbonate  of  lime 58.65 

Carbonate  of  magnesia 29.15 

Insoluble  matter 7.25 

Alumina  oxyd  of  iron  and  manganese 1.55 

Water 2.65 

Loss 0.75 

100.00 

At  Keystone,  four  miles  above  Belle  Plaine,  at  an  eleva- 
tion of  60  or  TO  feet  above  the  river  is  an  outcrop  of  mag- 
nesian  limestone  similar  to  that  at  St.  Lawrence,  of  -which 
more  particular  mention  will  be  made.  A  slight  outcrop  of 
the  same  occurs  one  and  a  half  miles  below  Belle  Plaine,  on 
the  land  of  William  Hinman.  At  St.  Lawrence,  which  is 
about  four  miles  below  Belle  Plaine,  and  at  an  elevation  of 
about  forty  feet  above  the  river,  occurs  the  following  series 
of  strata,  enumerating  from  above  downward  and  designat- 
ing the  lowest  visible  stratum  as  "  A  "  : 

F.  Magnesian  limestone,  speckled  and  mottled  with 
green,  and  having  numerous  greenish  partings.  Greatly 
shattered — 2  feet. 

E.  Magnesian  limestone,  huffish,  thick-bedded,  vesicu- 
lar. Contains  crystals  of  brown  spar.  Quarried  for  build- 
ing— 4  feet. 

D.  Magnesian  limestone,  reddish-tinged,  hard,  fine, 
crystalline — 2  feet. 

C.  Magnesian  limestone,  irregularly  bedded,  buffish, 
containing  green  specks — probably  of  silicate  of  iron — and 
fucoidal  casts — 4  feet. 

B.  Arenaceous  greenish  shale,  with  partings  of  light 
clay — 8  inches. 

A.  Buffish,  magnesian  limestone  in  thin  layers.  Thick- 
ness unknown. 

From  these  observations,  it  appears  certain  that  the  €rst 
bench  above  the  bottom  lands  of  the  Minnesota  Yalley,  be- 
tween Kasota  and  St.  Lawrence,  is  underlaid  by  the  "Lower 


9 

Magnesian  Limestone"  of  Owen,  which  is  probably  the 
equivalent  of  the  "Calciferous  Sandrock"  of  iSTew  York. 
It  appears,  further,  that  in  the  distance  of  3-i  miles,  it  dips 
down  the  river  at  such  a  rate  as  to  be  about  60  feet  nearer 
the  water  at  St.  Lawrence  than  at  Kasota — supposing,  as 
is  probable,  that  nearly  the  same  part  of  the  formation  out- 
crops at  each  locality. 

Passing  from  St.  Lawrence  northeastward  down  the  val- 
ley to  Brentwood,  we  pass  a  region  known  as  Sand  Prairie, 
characterized  by  an  upland,  rolling  surface,  and  a  poor, 
sandy  soil,  without  tree  or  shrub.  It  is  apparently  a  deposit 
of  detritus  arising  from  the  abundant  disintegration  of  some 
neighboring  sandstone. 

Turning  southward,  up  Sand  creek,  we  find  the  sandstone 
which  has  probably  been  the  origin  of  these  sands.  By 
examination  in  the  beer-vaults  at  Jordan,  and  along  the 
various  outcrops  higher  up  the  stratum,  we  find  a  section 
somewhat  as  follows : 

F.  Sandrock,  huffish,  quite  ferruginous,  thick  bedded. 
Seen  at  the  mill — 6  feet. 

E.  Sandrock,  ferruginous,  thin  and  irregularly  bedded, 
friable  and  disintegrating,  with  many  ferruginous  seams, 
crusts  and  concretions.  In  the  quarry,  3  feet. 

D.  Sandrock,  irregularly  whitish  or  ferruginous,  heavy- 
bedded,  obliquely  and  beautifully  banded  with  iron  streaks 
and  lamines.  In  quarry,  12  feet. 

C.  Sandrock,  buffish,  similar  to  D,  but  thinner  bedded. 
In  the  quarry,  8  feet. 

B.  Sandrock,  hard  and  ferruginous  above,  soft,  friable 
and  bufnsh-red,  below.  Falls  of  Sand  Creek,  10  feet. 

A.  Sandrock,  whitish,  compact.  In  the  beer  vaults,  12 
feet  seen. 

This  sandrock  formation,  notwithstanding  its  considerable 
elevation  above  the  magnesian  limestone  at  St.  Lawrence,  I 
am;  induced  to  regard  as  the  Potsdam  sandstone,  whose 
stratigraphical  position  'is  beneath  the  magnesian  limestone. 

At  Dooley  ville,  4  miles  north-east  of  Jordan,  is  an  outcrop 
over  several  acres,  of  a  buffish  and  reddish,  coarse,  silicious 


10 

sandrock,  dipping  about  2  degrees  toward  the  south  east. 
Some  portions  are  quite  hard,  and  even  vitreous,  while  the 
lower  portions  rapidly  disintegrate  into  a  clean  silicious  sand, 
of  rounded  transparent  grains,  beautifully  adapted  to  the 
manufacture  of  clear  glass.  The  impurities  would  not  pro- 
bably exceed  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent.  This  sandrock 
should  not  he  confounded  with  that  at  St.  Paul. 

This  ridge  strikes  in  the  direction  of  the  Little  Rapids  of 
the  Minnesota  river  at  Carver  City,  which  owe  their  exist- 
ence to  the  unyielding  strata,  dipping  there  with  the  descent 
of  the  stream.  This  conclusion  supposes  a  considerable 
swell  in  the  stratification,  to  bring  the  rocks  at  the  rapids  to 
the  altitude  of  the  sandstones  at  Jordan. 

The  thickness  of  the  sandstone  at  Dooley  ville  is  about  24 
feet  to  which  must  be  added,  below,  about  10  feet,  exposed 
in  the  neighboring  railroad  cut. 

At  NagePs  limekiln,  on  the  Louisville  Prairie,  about  one 
mile  south  of  Merriam  Station,  we  find  another  outcrop  of 
limestone  in  a  bluff  facing  west,  and  re-appearing  in  an  out- 
lier a  quarter  of  a  mile  nearer  the  river.  The  rock  is  very 
irregularly  stratified,  and  varies  nrnch  in  hardness  and  color. 
The  prevailing  colors  are  finkish  and  huffish.  Some  of  the 
layers  are  sandy,  others  magnesian,  others  ochrey  and  ferru- 
ginous, others  purely  calcareous.  Some  portions  are  quite 
resicular  and  abound  in  small  crystals  of  brown  spar.  Thirty- 
six  feet  are  exposed  in  the  quarry,  and  below  this,  a  well 
has  been  sunk  38  feet  in  the  limestone,  making  a  total  of  74 
feet.  Below  the  limestone  the  well  extended  24  feet  in  sand- 
stone, which  was  at  first  hard,  like  that  of  Dooleyville,  and 
below,  resembled  the  Jordan  sandstone. 

At  Shakopee,  the  same  formation  exhibits  an  exposure  of 
20  feet,  and  is  here  also  manufactured  into  lime.  The  lime 
at  these  localities  is  of  a  slaty  color,  but  is  said  to  be  of  good 
quality.  White  lime  is  sometimes  manufactured  from  the 
selected  purely  calcareous  layers. 

As  this  limestone  seems  to  hold  a  place  next  above  the 
Jordan  sandstone,  and  also  considerably  resembles  the  St. 
Lawrence  limestones,  I  am  led  to  regard  it  as  the  Lower 


11 

Magnesian  Limestone  of  Owen,  though  the  top  of  the  bluff 
at.NagePs  limekiln  is  probably  TO  feet  higher  than  the  quar- 
ry at  St.  Lawrence,  ten  miles  distant  in  a  straight  line,  tip 
the  river. 

From  bagel's  limekiln  the  strata  resume  the  dip  down 
the  river,  and  the  next  outcrop  is  of  the  overlying  St.  Peter's 
sandstone,  which  is  probably  the  equivalent  of  the  Chazy 
Formation  of  New  York  and  Canada.  This  sandstone,  at 
Mendota  and  Fort  Snelling,  is  capped  by  the  limestones  and 
shales  of  the  Trenton  Group.  The  Chazy  -  and  Trenton 
formations  bound  the  gorge  of  the  Mississippi  Itiver  to  St. 
Paul  and  to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  Just  above  the  falls, 
the  limestones  thin  out  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  but  continue 
to  appear,  for  a  few  miles,  along  fhe  banks  and  at  the  high- 
er levels.  The  Chazy  sandstone  disappears  nearly  at  the 
same  time,  and  the  magnesian  limestone  comes  to  the  sur- 
face. 

From  the  foregoing  statement  of  facts  it  appears  that  the 
region  from  St.  Paul  to  Kesotah,  and  we  may  add,  to 
Mankato,  is  underlaid  by  rocks  occupying  the  lowest  posi- 
tion in  the  Palaeozoic  series,  and  beneath  the  lowest  zone  of 
brine-producing  strata  known  in  the  United  States.  This, 
however,  is  not  decisive  against  the  existence  of  brine  in 
these  strata. 

It  also  appears  that  in  a  direction  parallel  with  the  axis  of 
the  Minnesota  valley,  the  strata  present  a  slightly  concave 
conformation,  which  is  essential  for  the  accumulation  of 
brine. 

In  the  direction  at  right  angles  with  the  valley  a  similar 
conformation  exists,  and  we  know  that  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Warajn  river,  northward,  the  Huronian  rocks  (next 
beneath  the  Paleozoic)  occupy  the  surface  when  not  con- 
cealed by  drift,  and  the  streams  also  descend  from  that  direc- 
tion to  the  Minnesota  ;  while  on  the  east,  the  Potsdam  sand- 
stone, after  passing  beneath  the  Lower  Silurian  and  Upper 
Silurian  strata,  comes  to  the  surface  again  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  river. 

The  following  section  presents  a  general  view  of  the  geo- 


12 

logical  structure  from  Glencoe  through  Belle  Plaine    and 
Hazel  wood  to  the  Cannon  river : 


1.  HURONIAN  SYSTEM — [The  dips  of  the  strata  are  hypothetical.] 

2.  POTSDAM  SANDSTONE — Believed  to  be  considerably  eroded  in  the 
valley  of  the  river. 

3.  CALCIFEROUS  FORMATION — (Lower  Magnesian  Limestone.) 

4.  CHAZY  FORMATION — (St.  Peter's  Sandstone.) 

5.  TRENTON  LIMESTONE  and  Shales. 

6.  DRIFT  MATERIALS,  represented  as  covering  the  whole  surface 
and  partially  filling  the  ancient  excavation   of  the   Minnesota  river. 
The  two  upper  terraces  at  Belle  Plaine  are  believed  to  be  shaped  by 
the  underlying  formations,  though  deeply  buried  in  drift. 

The  basin  structure,  as  far  as  shown  in  this  section,  is 
sufficient  for  the  accumulation  of  brine,  and  it  might  be 
looked  for  in  the  vicinity  of  Belle  Plaine,  were  there  not  a 
lower  depression  of  this  basin  further  southward,  extending 
into  Iowa  and  Missouri.  The  shaly  strata  of  the  Trenton 
group  which  overlie  the  central  portion  of  the  section,  are 
likely  to  be  somewhat  saliferous,  and  the  brine,  in  such 
case,  would  find  its  way  to  the  Potsdam  sandstone,  and 
flow  toward  the  lowest  depression  of  that  formation.  But 
the  nearest  places  of  outcrop  of  the  formation  are  in  Sibley, 
Carver  and  Nicollet  counties  ;  and  I  cannot  doubt  that  sur- 
iace  waters  have  saturated  that  sandstone  for  many  miles 
to  the  southeast  of  the  Minnesota  valley.  *  The  search 
for  brine  in  this  sandstone  would  therefore  be  reward- 
ed only  with  fresh  water.  That  water,  in  places  lower 
than  the  outcrop  of  the  formation — as  along  the  valley 
of  the  Minnesota  river — ought  to  rise  to  the  surface.  The 
experiment  of  boring  into  it  would  probably  resulc,  therefore, 
as  at  Chicago,  in  a  copious  Artesian  well. 


13 

V 

The  foregoing  statements  show,  1st,  That  the  situation 
at  Belle  Plaine  is  geologically  lower  than  any  known  Irine- 
producing  formation  of  North  America;  and  2d,  That 
even  if  the  shales  of  the  Trenton  group  should  prove  to 
~be  a  saliferous  formation  the  product  is  likely  to  accumu- 
late uderneatha  region  far  to  the  south.  It  must  be  added 
that  no  accumulation  is  probable,  even  toward  the  south, 
since  the  southern  border  of  the  basin  is  so  depressed  that 
fluids  have  probably  found  a  free  circulation  through  it,  and 
most  of  its  saline  constituents  have  been  carried  away. 

It  remains  to  consider  whether  the  situation  is  such  as  to 
justify  the  expectation  that  the  superficial  sands  and  gravel 
of  the  river-bottom  at  Belle  Plaine,  or  its  vicinity,  have 
become  saturated  with  brine  of  sufficient  strength  to  justify 
the  attempt  to  manufacture  salt. 

The  superficial  materials  represented  by  number  6,  in 
the  diagram  before  referred  to,  have  accumulated  in  the 
valley  of  the  river  at  Belle  Plaine  to  a  depth  of  210  feet. 
They  consist  mostly  of  sand  and  gravel.  These  facts  are 
apparent  from  the  following  statement  of  materials  passed 
through  in  boring  the  existing  well. 

At  depth        Intervening 
of  thickness. 

FEET.  FEET. 

0  9  Soil  and  gravel. 

9  9  Clay  and  gravel. 

18  18  Sand  and  gravel. 

36  54  Quicksand. 

90  1  Coarse  sand. 

91  C  Clay.    At  93  feet,  a  piece  of  grapevine  with 

bark. 

97  38  Sand,  varying    from  quicksand    to    coarse 

sand.    At  114  feet,  sand  filled  the  pipe  12 
feet ;  at  125  feet,  it  filled  5  feet. 

135  45  Gravel,   quicksand,   and  coarse   sand.      At 

144  feet  the  pipe  filled  10  feet.    At  168  feet 
another  piece  of  grapevine. 

180  7  Blue  Clay. 

187  13  Rock  fragments. 

200  2  Gravel.    Brine  stood  18°  by  salometer. 

202  8  Shelly  rock. 

210  Bed-rock — said  to  be  a  sand  stone— probably 

Potsdam  sandstone  (see  diagram.) 


Here  is  a  favorable  bed  of  materials  to  serve  as  a  reservoir 
for  any  brines  wliick  might  escape  from  the  outcrops  of 
any  of  the  contiguous  strata ;  and  some  surface  indications 
of  brine  have  long  been  known ;  but,  in  boring  into  these 
deposits  no  brine  seems  to  have  been  reached  of  sufficient 
strength  for  practical  purposes.  This  may  be  either  because 
the  supplying  formation  is  insufficiently  saliferous,  or  be- 
cause the  gravel  beds  are  not  underlaid  by  an  impervious 
floor  of  clay,  capable  of  arresting  the  downward  escape  of 
the  brine. 

Should  this  well  be  properly  pumped,  the  strength  of  the 
brine  would  probably  be  somewhat  increased.  It  would  be 
desirable  to  pump  it  from  the  bottom,  and  also  at  the  depth 
of  180  feet,  immediately  above  the  seven  feet  bed  of  clay — 
the  hole  below  being,  in  the  meantime,  temporarily  stopped. 
It  is  my  opinion  that  if  the  strength  could  be  increased  to 
50°  or  even  to  45°,  the  salt  manufacture  might  be  establish- 
ed. The  remoteness  of  this  part  of  Minnesota  from  the 
principal  sources  of  supply  of  salt,  and  the  cheapness  of  fuel, 
would  render  available  a  very  much  weaker  quality  of  brine 
than  could  be  employed  in  a  region  as  far  east  as  Chicago. 
I  feel  it  my  duty  to  state,  however,  that  /  do  not  consider 
tliis  expectation  very  encouracjiny.  The  increase  of  strength 
produced  by  pumping  would  not  probably  be  sufficient. 

As  there  are  different  methods  employed  for  expressing 
the  strength  of  brines,  it  may  be  useful  to  add  here  that  the 
salometer  expresses  percentages  or  hundredths  of  complete 
saturation.  One  hundred  degrees  expresses  complete  satura- 
tion; 50°,  half  saturation ;  25",  one-fourth  saturation,  and 
so  on.  "  Percentage  of  salt"  in  brine  is  a  very  different 
thing.  "  Eighteen  per  cent,  salt"  means  that  in  100  pounds 
of  brine,  IS  pounds  are  salt.  Saturated  brine  contains  about 
25  per  cent,  of  salt,  and  this  percentage  is  equivalent  to 
100°  on  the  salometer.  Beaume's  Hydrometer  is  a  salom- 
eter graduated  to  26°  instead  of  100".  The  strength  of  brine 
is  also  expressed  by  its  specific  gravity,  which  is  its  weight 
compared  with  an  equal  bulk  of  pure  water.  Thus,  if  a 
certain  volume  of  water  weighs  one  pound,  the  same  volume 


15 

of  saturated  brine  will  weigh  1.2  pounds.  Still  another 
method  is  to  give  the  number  of  grains  ot  salt  in  one  wine 
pint  of  brine ;  or  lastly,  to  state  the  number  of  gallons  of 
brine  required  to  produce  a  bushel  of  salt  weighing  56 
pounds. 

Natural  brines  always  contain  some  impurities,  and  the  sal- 
ometer  is  affected  by  these  in  the  same  way  as  by  common  salt. 
Hence  some  deduction  must  be  made  from  the  indicated 
strength,  depending  on  the  proportion  of  impurities  in  the 
brine.  The  impurities  can  be  determined  only  by  chemical 
analysis. 

Below  is  an  abridged  table   showing   the  equivalencies  of 
the  various  methods  of  expressing  the  strength  of  brines : 

Equivalent  Expressions  for  Strength  of  Brines. 


eter. 

Beaume's 

Specific 

Pef  centage" 

Grains 

Gallons  to 

Hydrometer. 

Gravity 

of  Salt. 

to  1  pint. 

1  bushel. 

0 

0 

1.000 

0 

0 

Infinite 

10 

2.GO 

1.017 

2.57 

191 

256 

18 

4.68 

1.032 

4.63 

348 

140 

20 

5.20 

1.035 

5.14 

388 

126 

30 

7.80 

1.054 

7.71 

592 

82.3 

40 

10.40 

1.073 

10.28 

804 

60.6 

50 

13.00 

1.093 

12.85 

1,024 

47.6 

60 

15.  CO 

1114 

15.42 

1,252 

38.9 

70 

18.20 

1.136 

17.99 

1,489 

32.7 

SO 

20.80 

1.158 

20.56 

1,736 

28.1 

90 

23.40 

1.182 

23.13 

1,992 

24.5 

100 

26.00 

1.205 

25.70 

2,259 

21.6 

The  nominal  strength  of  the  brines  employed  in  the  Sagi- 
naw  salines  is  about  80°,  but  they  contain  a  large  percent- 
age of  chloride  of  calcium.  The  mean  strength  of  the 
Onondaga  brines,  in  1862,  was  61°.  It  is  supposed  the  first 
Oriondaga  brine  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  salt  did 
not  possess  a  strength  above  40°  or  45°. 

The  prices  of  wood  per  cord  in  Onondaga  county,  have 
been  as  follows  :  In  18-19,  $2.00  ;  in  1856,  $5.50  ;  in  1857, 
$1.50;  in  1860,  $3.50;  in  1861,  $3.25;  in  1864-,  $3.50. 
Anthracite  coal  became  extensively  used  in  1857,  costing 
about  $3.50  per  ton,  and  reducing  the  cost  of  salt  two  or 
three  cents  per  bushel.  One  ton  of  coal,  at  Syracuse,  makes 
about  fifty  bushels  of  salt.  The  following  table  shows  the 
relative  value  of  different  classes  of  fuels  for  purposes  of 
evaporation : 


10 

Equal  W't.   Equal  B'lk. 

Maryland  Bituminous 1,000  1,000 

Pennsylvania  Anthracites .....         977  986 

Pennsylvania  Bituminous  coals        951  938 

Virginia   Highly    Bituminous 

coals 850  757 

Foreign  Bituminous  coals 801  741 

White  Oak TOO  610 

Bed-Heart  Hickory 700  592 

White  Ash 690  551 

Black  Walnut 615  486 

Hard  Maple 530  460 

White  Pine 362  298 

Although  I  am  unable,  for  reasons  already  stated,  to 
report  favorably  in  reference  to  the  prospect  of  obtaining 
brine  at  Belle  Plaine,  I  entertain  a  decided  conviction  that 
it  would  be  judicious  to  make  a  further  expenditure  at  that 
place. 

1.  The   present  well  should  be  pumped  in  the   manner 
already  indicated.     There  is  a  chance  of  obtaining,  by  this 
means,  a  brine  of  sufficient  strength  to  evaporate   either  by 
artificial  or  solar  heat. 

2.  The  present  well  ought  to  be  continued  down   to   the 
bottom  of  the  Potsdam   sand  stone.     I   cannot   learn    that 
any  deep  boring  has  been  made   in  Minnesota.     My   obser- 
vations in  Michigan  for  fifteen  years  past  teach  me   the   im- 
portance of  such  explorations.     The   results  are  of  public 
utilit}f.    Even  if  possessing  no  positive  value,  mere  negative 
results  are  valuable,  as  indicating  in   what  formations,  and 
tinder   what   circumstances  to   expect  nothing.      Negative 
results,  systematically  and  reliably  attained,  may  save  many 
random  ventures  and  expenditures  hereafter.     But  in   this 
case  I  think  there  is   good  reason  to  anticipate  an  Artesian 
overflow  of  fresh  water.     The  possibility  of  copious  Arte- 
sian wells  along  the  valley  of  the  Minnesota   may  lay  the 
foundation  of  important  business  enterprises  now  unantici- 
pated.    It  would  demonstrate  the  probability    of  Artesian 
wells  in  analagous    situations  throughout  the   southeastern 
portion  of  the  State.     It  is   a  public,  more  than   a  private 
interest,  which  is  concerned  in  exploring   this    sand   stone  ; 
and  it  would  be  good  public  policy  if  the   State   would  pro- 
vide for  the  expense.     This  locality  is  the  proper  one  for 
the  experiment,  since  by  far  the  most  expensive  portion  of  the 
undertaking  has  now  been  completed,  in   sinking  a  substan- 
tial six-inch  pipe  through   the   boulder  drift   two   hundred 
feet,  to  the  surface  of  the  friable  sand  rock. 

Very  respectfully  submitted, 

ALEXANDER  WINCHELL. 
AEBOE,  MICH.,  June  17,  1871. 


14  DAY  USE 

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